Hawai‘i Pacific University Master of Social Work online
This online Master of Social Work (MSW) program helps you to develop a multicultural social work practice, advocate for social and economic justice, and assist in healing communities affected by intergenerational consequences of historical and cultural trauma.
About the program
- Multicultural social work approach: Immerse yourself in a learning process that interweaves Western and Indigenous knowledge.
- Advanced Standing track available: Apply for the Advanced Standing track if you’re a BSW holder to earn your degree sooner.
- Two focus areas: Grow into a specialized social work leader by pursuing the Global Indigenous focus or the Military and Veteran Affairs focus.
About Hawai‘i Pacific University
Founded in 1965, Hawai‘i Pacific University is an international learning community located in downtown Honolulu, Hawai‘i. People from all 50 U.S. states, U.S. territories, and over 60 countries become students here — in-person and online — and experience what makes it so unique: strong academic programs, Hawaiian-inspired values, small class sizes, compassionate mentorship, and diverse faculty and student population.
In the words of its president, John Y. Gotanda, Hawai‘i Pacific University is “one university, one community, one ‘ohana (family).”
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A curriculum that interweaves Indigenous perspectives
The online MSW curriculum combines core courses, two focus area options, an in-person cultural immersion, and direct clinical experiences. You will learn to promote community wellbeing through classes that focus on individuals, families, various social service programs, evidence-based practices, and human-service policies. Guided by Hawai‘ian values, you will develop cultural competence, and learn how to practice cultural humility through actively listening, engagement with, and service to diverse populations in multicultural settings.
The online MSW program offers two focus areas to help you grow into the social work leader you want to be:
- Global Indigenous: This focus builds on foundation year courses to further promote social work practice through a decolonial, Indigenous lens — meaning, you will begin a process of decolonizing your thinking and move toward understanding social work practice from an interwoven approach that incorporates both Indigenous and Western worldviews.
- Military and Veterans Affairs: This focus allows you to learn the nuances of social work practice within local, state, and federal government programs when engaging, assessing, and treating active-duty military, veterans, and military family members. Courses center on social issues and cultural contexts that are prevalent in these groups, such as homelessness, substance abuse, deployment stressors, and military sexual trauma.
Admissions
Hawai‘i Pacific University seeks applicants with open minds and hearts who want to serve in their communities. There are three start dates per year: January, May, August. No GRE scores required.
There are three cohort start dates per year. The following materials are required for online applications:
Online application
Résumé (optional)
Transcripts
Two letters of recommendation (can be academic and/or professional)
Essay
Clinical experiences and cultural immersion
In-person clinicals: You will complete 900 hours of fieldwork over four semesters and gain local, federal, or even international exposure to social work practice. During these in-person clinical experiences, you will perform practice behaviors and activities to meet the nine social work competencies, as declared by the Council of Social Work Education (CWSE), as well as Hawai‘i Pacific University School of Social Work’s tenth competency that emphasizes Indigenous approaches.
Cultural immersion: This online MSW includes a required cultural immersion experience, which serves as a key part of the MSW foundational learning. You can complete this MSW component in your home community, or you can visit the university campus on the island of Oʻahu for a multi-day immersion. Regardless of where you do your cultural immersion, you will:
Complete assigned readings from kūpuna (Elders) and cultural experts before the immersion.
Engage in reciprocal service and learning opportunities.
Connect and build community with peers and/or faculty/community hosts in person.
Apply and integrate what you’ve learned during the immersion to course content.